


And Everybody Came

by Ononymous



Series: Undertale Anniversary Requests 2017 [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Ambiguity, Anniversary, Gen, Maybe Magic Maybe Mundane, Party, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-15
Updated: 2017-09-15
Packaged: 2018-12-30 01:55:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12098169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ononymous/pseuds/Ononymous
Summary: Everyone had been looking forward to this day for ages, since the last one was so much fun. So the Underground would fill up again and everyone would celebrate it together.





	And Everybody Came

The big day had finally come around again.

Frisk couldn't believe how quickly time seemed to have passed since the last one. Of course they had been busy. Everyone had been busy. But before you could say "oaken spaghetti" another whole year had passed. The anticipation had been palpable for the past two weeks. It seemed like every monster had been making plans. From what they heard, it sounded like the Underground would be full again, if only for a few hours.

Not that the Underground had been abandoned. Home was home, even if you were no longer forced to stay there. While nearly everybody was on the surface at least some of the time, there were more than you'd think who opted to continue living in Mount Ebott.

And it wasn't like those who moved topside abandoned their home. They were always visiting friends and family down below. And some had more personal reasons. Undyne and Alphys liked to spend the anniversary of when they met in the Garbage. Papyrus liked to check his puzzles were in working order. Sans sometimes napped in front of the core. Mettaton and Napstablook would check on the snail farm, even though they could have hired someone to run it for them full time. Asgore and Toriel had made a solemn, if strained, pilgrimage all the way to the end of the Ruins, and even though Frisk knew why, they didn't attempt to accompany them. Asgore had also made six more such trips throughout the year, and had expressly forbidden anyone from accompanying him. There were too many memories to pretend their home no longer existed.

But today would be when monsters were at their most united. School would stop at lunchtime, and the few human students and their parents were invited to the celebrations. Toriel had hoped more would join them than last year. Despite skipping out on homework that would have been due that afternoon, Toriel had insisted Frisk do it anyway. The perils of a teacher for a mother.

Indeed Toriel walked alongside them back home. Frisk had to make sure they had everything. Dashing up to their room, they opened a drawer they had locked up securely, and took out the present they had been saving. A token of affection for the one who couldn't join them up here. Satisfied it was just as wrapped as it had been when they had gotten it a week ago, they stored it in their phone. After washing their face and brushing their hair, a move to pre-empt Toriel's insistence on such, they came back down.

In the kitchen, several of Toriel's reasons for closing the school laid on the table, while she worked on the last one. After the official ceremony led by Asgore, there was going to be a right proper party. That meant a lot of pie.

"Hi Mom, I'm ready."

"Very good, my child. I must confess, I am glad this did not turn out to be a _pie_ in the sky idea."

Frisk giggled a little as the flames around the last pie vanished, and Toriel moved it to the table.

"Now, I shall leave them to cool for half an hour, then store them on my cellphone. Can you assist me with doing that? I have not quite figured out how it works."

"Sure, I think Alphys was a bit nervous when she explained your upgrades."

While the pies cooled, Toriel cleaned up, and Frisk began checked their text messages.

"Dad's going on ahead."

Toriel sat down in a chair by the fireplace. "Well as King he is leading the procession. We shall not dawdle either. As soon as Sans arrives we will proceed to the Mountain."

"won't your pies be too hot then, tori?"

"My goodness!" gasped Toriel, "Sans, you... you are early!"

"heh. you gonna _clock_ me for messin' with your plans?"

Toriel burst out laughing. It always seemed strange compared to how composed she usually was.

"Of course not. But where is Papyrus? I thought he would be with you."

"welp, he tossed me out of bed, so that's why i'm here now, and said he was goin' with undyne and alphys, as they're with the king."

"I see. That is odd of him."

"eh, he takes these notions sometimes. i can be _stern_ um with him later if it goes to his head."

Toriel laughed again. Frisk saw her whole posture relax.

"Well then. I suppose all we have to wait on are the pies, and then we can-"

The door knocked.

"Who could that be?"

She got to her feet, walked to the door and opened it.

"Toriel." The deep voice was polite and respectful.

"Asgore?!"

"May we..." his voice hesitated. Frisk imagined he smelled the pie. "May we come in?"

"I... Very well."

Toriel returned to the living room, followed by Asgore, wearing his cloak over a Delta Rune Tunic, Undyne in armour, Alphys wrapped snugly in winter clothes - she had even wrapped a scarf round her tail - and Papyrus in his brightly polished battle body.

"Why are you here, Asgore? You should be approaching the mountain by now."

"That was my plan," he agreed, "but Papyrus made me see sense. You see-"

"THERE YOU ARE, FRISK!"

Papyrus advanced on them cheerily.

"I WAS JUST EXPLAINING TO THE KING, IT WOULD NOT BE RIGHT FOR SUCH A MOMENTOUS OCCASION TO PASS WITHOUT OUR LIBERATOR AT THE FRONT. WE HAVE COME TO ASK YOU TO BE PART OF THE ROYAL ESCORT!"

Frisk smiled. That would make their own plans easier. "Sure! I mean, if Mom's okay with it."

Toriel pursed her lips at being put on the spot like this. She seemed to settle on compromise.

"We may as well all go together." she said. "I am just waiting on the pies cooling off."

"EVEN BETTER!"

"hey alph, what's with the getup? you gonna be more _chill_ than usual?"

"Oh, uh, it's j-just I never did w-well in Snowdin, and s-since the main event is there..."

"I think she looks cute!" said Undyne with a big grin. "And maybe during the party we can warm up by-"

"Ahem!" coughed Toriel, more loudly than strictly necessary.

"MAJESTY, DO YOU NEED COUGH MEDICINE?"

The chatter continued in this vein for a while. It had actually been a while since the seven of them had been in the one room, and it was a good opportunity to catch up. To swap jokes, to discuss new anime, to catch a hopeful sniff of the pies. Frisk joined in as much as any of them. And all the while confident they were ready to give their present. When the opportunity presented himself.

* * *

It was windy today. It was windy most days. Not that it bothered them.

Not much had changed in a while. The trees were still there, still covered in snow and ice. The river flowed behind them. The path before them was the one real change, having been slowly covered as very few people used these days.

They didn't mind being on his own. It was a beautiful day inside. Wind was blowing. Ceiling gems were twinkling. On days like this, people not like them should be somewhere warm with their families.

It wasn't long however before they heard something. A crunchy noise. It had been several weeks since they last heard it. Someone was walking along the main road between Snowdin and the Ruins. More than a someone, the crunching was too often to just be two or four feet. And there was chatter. Excited, happy, friendly. Wowsers, did that mean... it was today?! They had forgotten, they were so busy appreciating nature...

They saw the purple and gold first. It almost looked like two sets of robes and a floating beard approaching him. It took them a moment to realise they were attached to two large monsters with horns, and fur as white as the snow around them. They weren't alone. Two skeletons were beside them. And a fish and a lizard. And in front of them...

"Oh, it's you!"

The human beamed at them. And then they noticed more people behind them. A pack of dogs and a warren of bunnies. Froggits, Whimsums, Vulkins, Temmies, even some humans. They were all trying to get a look at them.

"Howdy!"

The largest purple-clad monster waved at them.

"Oh. Hello, King Asgore."

The procession stopped six paces away from them. The front line turned around to face those who had followed.

"Glad everyone could make it! As King of the Underground and Leader of all Monsters, I would like to thank everyone for coming here on this momentous anniversary."

Hundreds of lungs inhaled.

" **HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SNOWMAN!** "

If they had any sort of ability to generate heat, the Snowman might have blushed. Instead their coal-laden smile grew a little.

"Aw, shucks! Thanks, guys!"

Discordant renditions of "Happy Birthday" filled the air, while a bunch of monsters started extracting food and drink and blankets from phones and bags. It looked like they were holding a party right there. This was nice. It was a change of pace at least.

The Snowman was delighted to see so many happy people. Some just ate, some chatted with friends and strangers, the smaller and younger ones were running around playing games. A few came up to them and wished them well in person, even taking selfies with them. They couldn't have stopped them even if they wanted to, but they were just glad their guests enjoyed themselves.

"Hi."

It was Frisk. They had learned their name when the King and not-Queen had come up to them and they had followed. Both of them were busy talking to their friends and each other, so now Frisk was alone.

"Hi again. I have to say thanks for all this. It's nice so many people are happy."

"Don't thank me yet."

"Why?"

Frisk fiddled with their phone. A large present flashed into existence.

"This is for you."

"Really? That's so nice of you! Could, um, could you open it?"

"Oh, sure!"

They eagerly ripped off the wrapping paper. It was a large book with "PHOTO ALBUM" on the cover.

"Photos? What of?"

"You'll see."

Frisk opened the album. It was a stunning picture of a mountain valley. For a moment he thought that was all, but then...

"Wait, is that-?"

Resting on an outcrop of rock was a transparent box. And in the box was an inert lump of snow.

"Is that me?!"

"Yep!" Frisk was beaming. "I got the snowbunnies to whip up a magic box to make sure it wouldn't melt. And then Alphys and I put notices up on the internet, and got a ton of volunteers. They're sending your piece to each other and taking pictures of their local landmarks with it. That way you get to see more of the world! I think it's currently in Thailand."

Frisk then proceeded to show the Snowman every picture in the album, and the wondrous sites it contained. The Grand Canyon. The Golden Gate Bridge. The Eiffel Tower. The Giant's Causeway. The Hagia Sophia. Mount Fuji. The Colosseum. The Pyramids. The Taj Mahal. A verdant rainforest. Flat savannah. Uluru. Snowdin Town - somehow a monster had gotten on the list - and what seemed like every other noteworthy thing the world had to offer.

The Snowman was incapable of crying. But they now wished that they could.

"That's amazing! You went to all that trouble, just for me?"

Frisk shrugged. "I'd do the same for any of my friends. I've gone to even greater lengths for some of them."

"And I thought the party you organised last year was nice. How did so many people want to get involved.

"I don't know, really. Tell you the truth it kinda, well, snowballed."

The grin of coal shrank a little.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I'm just delighted everyone's having a good time. Hey, that reminds me."

"Yes?"

"Isn't the anniversary for you coming to the Underground and breaking the Barrier in a week or two? What are you doing then?"

Frisk waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, we'll probably book a table at a restaurant somewhere. We don't need to make a big deal out of it."

"Really? But after what you've done for me..."

"Well..." Frisk thought for a moment, "we'll always _remember_ the Barrier. It's important we don't forget. But we have to _celebrate_ our friends. Especially while we can. The Barrier wouldn't mean anything without our friends."

"Well said, Frisk!"

They turned round. Asriel and Chara were approaching the Snowman, with a small white dog resting happily in Chara's arms.

"Howdy, Snowman! Happy Birthday!"

"Thank you, Prince!"

"Greetings, Frisk."

"Hi, Chara."

"There you are!"

Toriel approached the group, looking rather stern.

"Children, I thought you were headed straight here after school. Where have you been?"

"My apologies," said Chara, "I had business to attend to."

The dog barked as if to confirm the story. Toriel seemed satisfied.

"Well, I am glad you did not miss the party."

"No way, Mom!" said Asriel. "Like we'd miss the biggest event on the Monster Calendar! This is the best opportunity for people to get together, even when it seems impossible!"

The dog wagged his tail.

"You are quite right." said Toriel, viewing the three children warmly. "Now come over here and have some pie before your father tries to take your slices."

"Toriel, I resent that allegation!" said Asgore, hastily putting down the plate he was holding.

The three children laughed. Chara finally released the dog and he accompanied them to their parents. The Snowman was alone in the crowd again, but they felt satisfied in once again appreciating how everyone was coming together. Even if it wasn't just in their honour, sometimes it was important to set aside a day and just celebrate those who made you happy, wherever they were. And you'd be surprised at who would appear to return the feeling.

**Author's Note:**

> Original version here: https://pastebin.com/8tMdw5qM
> 
> Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading.
> 
> Happy Anniversary, Undertale! Celebrate it with friends!


End file.
